Actor Sridevi’s body taken to Dubai airport after embalming

Actor Sridevi’s body was taken to the Dubai airport on Tuesday evening after being embalmed at a medical centre in Muhaisna, Khaleej Times reported. The police in Dubai handed over letters permitting the release of her body to her relatives after closing concluding the investigation in the case, the Indian consulate said earlier on Monday.

Saurabh Malhotra, the nephew of the actor’s husband Boney Kapoor, and officials from the consulate were at the morgue to receive the body, Khaleej Times reported.

“The decision to release the body came after all the investigations and procedural matters followed in such incidents were completed, in order to determine all its circumstances and ensure that justice was done within the framework of the law,” Gulf News quoted the Dubai Public Prosecutor’s Office as saying.

Meanwhile, Sridevi’s stepson Arjun Kapoor arrived in Dubai on Tuesday to be with his father Boney Kapoor, PTI reported. “Arjun has gone to Dubai this morning to be with his father at the hotel while the formalities are being wrapped up and to oversee the return journey,” the actor’s publicist told Gulf News.

Sridevi, who was in Dubai to attend her nephew’s wedding with husband Boney Kapoor and her younger daughter Khushi, died on February 24. The actor was getting ready for dinner with her husband when she died in her room at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers hotel.

Boney Kapoor had reportedly left Dubai for Mumbai, but returned on Saturday evening to surprise Sridevi. The couple spoke for 15 minutes after which Sridevi went to the washroom to get ready for dinner. When she did not come for a while, Boney Kapoor knocked on the door, and then forced it open to see her “lying motionless in a bathtub full of water”.

The government of Dubai on Monday confirmed that Sridevi died after accidentally drowning in the bathtub of her hotel room following loss of consciousness. A forensic examination indicated that traces of alcohol were found in her blood.